United States and European Union promote new investigation into origin of COVID-19 in China

The United States and the European Union are ready to support further research into the origins of COVID-19 after conflicting assessments of the origin of the epidemic, according to a document seen by Bloomberg News.

In a draft declaration that countries hope to present at a summit later this month, “Call for progress on transparent, evidence-based, expert-led Phase 2 study convened by WHO on origins of COVID-19 and without interference”.

The United States is one of many countries that have called on China to be more transparent with its data and allow better access, amid ongoing issues. if the epidemic was caused by a laboratory accident, transmitted by wildlife or caused by something else.

The new research risks fueling tensions with China, which has rejected suggestions of a laboratory leak and international efforts to further investigate the origins of the virus.

Earlier this year, a report from the World Health Organization (WHO) said the most likely origin was natural, but more studies were needed to confirm it.

A person familiar with the discussions, which took place between European diplomats preparing for the meeting, said that The United States had asked the bloc to support a study into the origins of COVID.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The declaration is a draft and could change before US and EU leaders meet in Brussels on June 15.

The document also states that the United States and the European Union “are committed to working together to develop and use a rapid and independent means to investigate such epidemics in the future.”

Late last month, US President Joe Biden released a surprise statement, revealing that His intelligence community remained divided over the origins of the pandemic, reigniting theories he had escaped from a laboratory.

Biden said two “elements” of the intelligence community, which he did not identify, leaned towards a natural origin of the virus, while another leaned towards the Wuhan laboratory, a global center for research into the virus. coronavirus. Each party had “low to moderate confidence”.

(With information from Bloomberg / By Alberto Nardelli and Josh Wingrove)

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